Reject Rejects Regrets
by theorangesmuggler
Summary: AU. Forever alone Hinata doesn't understand why her family is trying to marry her off to either an Uchiha who's probably gay or the pushy childhood bully whose first name is Neji. No. 1 thinks she's waste of time; No. 2 tells her she looks like the lost twin of Marilyn Manson. But when Hinata finally finds the courage to call it quits, neither of the two of them can handle no.


Reject Rejects Regrets-Chapter 1

Hinata Hyuuga blushed. Only this time around, the reddish colour that usually seemed ever so present on the lady's cheeks came with an actual, legit reason. And if you were ever, or have imagined being in a similar situation like the person we speak of now, you might even be able to relate.

Ah, yes, _yes it was_.

It was that time of year again, time of life more exactly, when people older than you began offering weird looks of sympathy, passively pointing out how it has been nearly thirty years and you still have not gotten a ring on that finger.

When someone's current closest semblance of a romantic relationship was with a pet fish, named Jack the Sailor, you can bet your stocks that there's something was wrong.

With an irksome mental imagination of exactly how her sister would look twenty years down the road, in a senior's bingo room, making googly eyes at some unaware guppy, Hanabi Hyuuga inhaled a breath in order to avoid what would have been a terrific scowl that could have driven even the greatest sumo wrestler to tears.

"They don't look half bad." Hanabi remarked negligently. Full body pictures of men lay neatly across the table like a tarot cards, as if foretelling a foreboding future. On the other hand, it could also pass off as introductory cards of a basket-boy auction at a Las Vegas strip club.

Nevertheless…no matter how forsakenly handsome the chiselled faces were, all staring up into Hinata Hyuuga's eyes like stars and suns, she could utter nothing other a decorous 'mhmm' and the occasional shake-nod.

Hanabi read it as passive-aggression. Anxious timidity had always seemed to associate itself with her sister. What's the problem? "Well," she offered diplomatically, flipping a hand casually through the air, "there`s a couple of other ones if you think these are ugly."

…As if that was the problem.

And _as if it were_, more pictures were drawn from the brown envelope that was now known to Hinata as hell.

* * *

"Sasuke, wait! Don't you dare leave before having a peek! Don't you think she looks absolutely sweet?"

The person in question, like a samurai with his honour to behold, stared intently into his opponent's eyes, a moody glower motionless with antagonism.

His adversary, however, gave him a bashful smile before gracefully lifting a little teapot and pouring them both two warm cups of tea, a common courtesy he was usually comply to perform, but was looked over since both knew that the person in question was feeling too...dissenting at the moment to be a dutiful son.

But being the dutiful son he usually was, Sasuke Uchiha was given no choice but to direct his idle frown in another direction. With that came a polite word of gratitude as he absentmindedly accepted his tea and tried not to think too much about a picture he had just reluctantly from her hands.

He gave it a begrudgingly, quick glance before looking even more uncomfortable than before.

"Yes, mother. But I do not need a blind date and—"

"Oh you agreed with me."

"Agree with what?"

"That she's cute. She has a very respectable job. She's a physiotherapist."

"..."

"Sasuke, you're not young anymore."

"I'm barely twenty-six." He rebuked firmly.

"And you _don't_ have a girl friend." As if it was the only thing that matter.

"But neither does Itachi."

"...He's a completely different case."

"So what's wrong?"

"Nothing's...wrong."

She stared at her son, suddenly a lot less gaiety and a lot more solemn than before. "You know Sasuke, you can tell your family anything... Know that we'll always accept you in any _way_."

The latter of her speech disturbed him. What is she trying to get at? But before he could get a grip of anything else, she placed a concern hand on his.

"Just to make sure you know..."

"Hm?"

"If you end up not liking her, I heard she also has a spectacularly handsome male cousin."

* * *

Her eyes widen, this time thoroughly embarrassed and jaw slacking with fatigue Never in Hinata's life has she ever seen anything so ominous. Yes, she could take her father's harsh words, she could take Hanabi's bored looks, but—!

"I-It's N-n-ne—"

"Oh, _yeah_. He was only a last resort type of thing. You said you prefer someone you knew, didn't you?"

"Y-yes, but that doesn't mean—"

"Oh," Hanabi started, effectively cutting her off. "Well isn't this one from your old elementary school?"

"Uchiha." Hanabi supplied when she did not respond. "Uchiha Sasuke. Fit. You know him."

* * *

The term 'singleness', Hinata thought, not quite depressed but nowhere near happy, was not just another word about a life without a mate. It actually came along with many other things. Such as the daily unforgiving course of sympathetic glances or the occasional blatant outright stare of pity, and they were all just reminder that you're lonely. Hinata secretly abhorred them but knew it couldn't be any if their fault, but she out rightly wished they wouldn't come with as high of a frequency of gamma rays.

It was no help when people had already given you the image as an abstinent nun slash weed like hybrid that has the total sex drive of a mushroom.

And this was the reason she didn't want to meet her blind date. She knew what he would think, she knew what anybody would think, and the notion left her heart impotent with dread.

She felt embarrassed that her mind still drifted to Naruto after all these years. Nothing made her more hopelessly silly and naive to think that a blind date would fall in love with her.

This was...this was Uchiha Sasuke we were talking about.

They went to same elementary school.

Hinata made herself more comfortable in her bed, getting ready to go down the memory lane.

His face gently peera down at her before she turns over her stomach to bury her head into her pillow like she did back when frumpy jumpers and video cassettes were still in fashion.

* * *

An odd fact of life is that in every reasonably sized family, there was always someone of relation that made you feel you'd rather jump into quicksand than to want to cross paths with. People like bitter in-laws or pompous aunts or your sister's son who you knew from experience could and would hurt you with very large rocks or candlesticks if they didn't like the toy that came with their happy meals.

And of course, there was your occasional very nasty and condescending cousin who went out of his way to make you feel uncomfortable. One that saunters through the narrow hallways with an air of exquisite disdain that made your one-room apartment feel a thousand times more unworthy than it already was. You avoid looking into his hard eyes that glared with pristine loathing, and the low tone in his voice that rang bells of disapproval.

Hinata did not know whatever had she done to Neji Hyuuga to make him the giant tormenter of her life.

Neji was a heart surgeon. He saved lives. The most he felt Hinata ever did was help lift up flail limbs and stretch worn muscles of people too old or too sore to move on their own.

What a blunder.

So as Neji the Great made his bout martially towards her living room, Hinata trailed timidly behind him like a shell-shocked soldier, feeling a tad nauseated and overwhelmed. His god-defying presence doubled with anticipation of that days activities had her chest heaving in freight, hands wringing each other so nervously in such a way that any bystander could have mistaken her as a deranged germaphobe manically applying hand sanitizer.

The sight left Neji thinking what a joke this woman must be.

But really quite literally today the joke was on him.

He hasn't slept properly in weeks since he was busy saving people from cardiac arrest (he felt a smidgen of pride at this note) and he wants a cup of tea since he's dry sick of the coffee but what does he get after all that hard work?

Spending this single day that he should have to himself chauffeuring Hinata around for her 'big' date with another goddamn loser her father picked out while she could've easily just called a damn cab?

"Who are you having dinner with anyways?"

A very strange sound came from deep within Hinata`s throat, and an image of a man (who she believed her father had probably black-mailed) popped her mind. She answered with less coherency than that of Donald Duck.

Neji raised a brow. Did he hear just right? Wasn't that the—

However before he could think out whatever he was thinking, Hinata suddenly offered to call a taxi herself in her timid voice unknowingly landing bull's eyes at his earlier thought, which annoyed Neji enough to completely forget about what he was thinking about earlier.

"It was your father's request Hinata." Neji spoke for the first time. Then he just looked at her for a minute.

With a reasonable amount of resentment and in a matter-of-fact way, Neji added, "And you look like a whale in that dress."

She was too mortified to feel insulted and too mellow in nature to be angry.

However, unbeknownst to both of them, Neji for once in his life had not done what he had meant to do (other than killing other people's self esteem).

He'll regret the things he's said someday. Not today, but he will. He doesn't know now.

In the end, Neji was too fascinated by the mortified woman in front of him. Anyways, he had better things to do than fret about something he obviously didn't care about.

Hinata on the other hand, was clutching her stomach in a nervous grip and was more terrified about the upcoming events than ever.

* * *

AN: I really like screwball romantic comedies. Ehehe and to me, SasuHina is like magic mushrooms stir fried in crack, ugh GOD, who's with me?

Their personalities are more pre-time-skipped prone. It'll get better, I get to describe how fucking attractive Sasuke is in the next chapter and have a waitress grab his crotch and then a waiter grab his bum.


End file.
